West Freugh
MoD West Freugh
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| Near Stranraer, Dumfries and Galloway in Scotland | |||||||||
Radomes and hangars at West Freugh
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 MoD West Freugh
Shown within Dumfries and Galloway
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| Coordinates | 54°50′50″N 4°56′54″W / 54.84722°N 4.94833°W | ||||||||
| Type | Research Establishment and Weapons Range | ||||||||
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| Owner | Ministry of Defence | ||||||||
| Operator |
Royal Air Force 1937-2001 QinetiQ 2001-present |
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| Website | LPTA West Freugh | ||||||||
| Site history | |||||||||
| Built | 1937 | ||||||||
| In use | 1937-Present | ||||||||
| Airfield information | |||||||||
| Identifiers | ICAO: EGOY | ||||||||
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Royal Air Force 1937-2001
RAF West Freugh is a former Royal Air Force station located in Wigtownshire, 5 miles (8.0 km) south east of Stranraer, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland.
It has always been an armaments training school, either for handling or deployment of ordnance.
The site is now known as MoD West Freugh and is operated by defence contractor Qinetiq, on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.
During the First World War the site was a base for naval airships, known as RNAS Luce Bay. The base was provided with one huge airship hangar.
RAF West Freugh opened in 1937 as an armament training camp. During the Second World War, it expanded to include training facilities for observers, navigators, and bomb aimers; and served as a base for the Bombing Trials Unit. The known history of units known at West Freugh is:
In addition to the units listed above (and with manpower possibly drawn from some of them) a Mountain Rescue Team was based at West Freugh from 1945 to 1956. After 1956 the MRT at RAF Leuchars assumed responsibility for the area covered by West Freugh. The team was part of the RAF's Mountain Rescue Service.
A satellite earth station is located at West Freugh and was established to receive and distribute data from the European Space Agency's ERS radar satellites. In September 2005 it was announced that the earth station at West Freugh was the first outside Canada to be certified to provide imagery from the Canadian RADARSAT commercial satellite.
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Wikipedia